Ascendant-The Rising Sign!

In Vedic Astrology, 'Ascendant' is without question the most individual and defining element in the chart. All predictions start from the Ascendant and everything in a chart is derived from the Ascendant. Being the most important of all, still not many people understand the science behind it. Since we astrologers have to deal mostly with the predictive part, the understanding of the scientific/astronomical basis of the rising sign gets sidelined. 


So this is just a small effort from my side to make the concept of Ascendant more clear to everyone.

Ok, so we know that Earth revolves around the Sun and completes a revolution in around an year. Since we reside on earth, we study the apparent motion of Sun around the earth. This path along which the sun appears to move as viewed from the earth is called 'ecliptic'. Since earth's one revolution takes 12 months to complete, we have 12 zodiac signs through which the Sun's apparent motion is observed. They are called as the Sun Signs. So depending upon where your Sun is, at the time of your birth, you get your sun sign.. But as we learnt in our geography class in school that Earth not only revolves around the Sun but also rotates on its own axis, completing one rotation in around 24 hours. So though the sun sign is fixed for a month, due to rotation of earth, the group of stars rising in the Eastern horizon would keep changing from time to time. So if you wake up in the morning at 7 am and you see an Aries rising then at 9 am, it would be Taurus, 11 am Gemini and so on. Thus it is observed that these group of stars change roughly after every two hours. This is precisely what the ascendant means. The Sign rising over the eastern horizon at the time of your birth is called the Ascendant. This is why it is also called 'Rising Sign'. 

It is believed that the rising sign at the moment of your birth is the one you embody not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. It is a type of behavior that you adopt as a child because, at that time, you found it to be most appropriate. 

Ascendant determines the mental capacity, temperament, character, behavior, good luck and bad luck of the native. It is represented by the first house of the chart. It also tells how much fame, honor, property, status and comfort a person will gain during his lifespan. The ascendant represents the face you present to the world- your physical appearance, your manner of dealing with people, and what they perceive at first glance. 

Your Ascendant is often considered to be that by which other people understand you; so when meeting others, they will see you through the lens of your Ascendant, rather than your sun sign. We can say that our Ascendant shows our natural, knee-jerk reaction to new people and situations. In astrology, Ascendant is the basis of everything . No matter what the concerned area is, be it career, family, foreign travel, finance or marriage, the evaluation of Ascendant and its lord is of prime importance as it reflects the 'you' in question. 

What's next:  The 12 Ascendants and their traits!

What sign are you? Vedic Vs Western.

What if you have been thinking you are a Scorpion all of your life, and suddenly discover you are actually a Libran?

Very often I hear from people, "I am a Saggitarius" or I am a "Leo", to which I say, "Don't be so sure". I also try to explain the reason sometimes, but very few are able to understand. Doesn't really surprise me because this is what people read in the Sun-sign columns of the newspapers and thus they associate all of their self to be their Sun Sign, that too a Western one.

But just think of it.

• Will all births taking place from 21st March to April 20th have the same Arien characteristics of leadership and impulsiveness?
• Will everyone born in the months of late September-October be peace-loving and charming, like a true Libran?
• Scorpio is your Sun-sign but what about the other planets? Where do Mercury and Venus go? What about other zodiacs like Capricorn and Pisces? Won't they have an influence on your life?
• Will everyone born in those 30 days, under the same zodiac go through the same course of events in his/her life?

Sounds strange right? All this basically account to the limitations of the Western System of Astrology. So if you are a Capricorn acc to Western Astrology does not mean you will have all the Capricorn character traits, because Capricorn is just your Sun-sign(based on Tropical Zodiac), while if you see your Vedic horoscope, your rising sign, sun sign, moon sign will all be different. Yes even the Sun-sign would be different in most cases.

So, the first surprise using Vedic Astrology is that you are no longer the Sun Sign you always thought you were. This happens with most of the charts. However, if you were born in the last 5 days or so of the Western Sign month, then you will probably still be that sign in Vedic since the difference is 23 degrees currently, and signs are 30 degrees long in space.

But why this difference? Lets get more into the astronomical part of it.


Vedic Astrology, (Jyotish) uses the astronomically scientific calculations for the signs of the Zodiac, the zodiac is called the Sidereal zodiac. Sidereal means star and is based on which stars or constellations the planets appear to be in from our perspective here on earth. (This is what the zodiac astronomers use.)

Western astrology uses the Tropical system which is Sun-based and is determined by the seasons. Tropical defines 0° Aries as wherever the Sun is at the moment of March Equinox. The Sun’s position then becomes 0° Aries even though side really (as seen from Earth) it’s only about 7° into Pisces and still needs to travel 23° before it gets to 0° Aries so Western Astrology does not take into account the precession of the equinoxes; therefore after 2000 years it is off by about 20 degrees of longitude--almost a whole Zodiac sign (30 degrees). From 0-600 C.E. , scientists were not aware of the precession. At that time it so happened that the beginning of the Zodiac sign Aries coincided with the beginning of the spring equinox (March 21). Western astrologers (in Greece and Egypt) assumed that the heavens would always stay the same. What they didn’t know is that each year that the earth revolves around the sun, it returns to a place in space slightly behind where it was the previous year. Therefore, it is going backward through the signs of the Zodiac.

The newspaper and thousands of books use the Sun sign for telling you about yourself and your life.  But the Sun is in the same sign for 30 days--think of all the thousands of people born during that time that have the same sign as you. In contrast, Vedic astrology places more emphasis on the Ascendant and the Moon sign, because the ascendant/rising sign changes every 2 hours a day and the moon every 2-1/2 days; thus it is more representative of who you are, this is the reason a Vedic reading requires your time of birth and place of birth too, and not just the date of birth. Ascendant plays a very significant role since it is representative of the moment you are born. This is what distinguishes you from all the others born on your birthday.

Actually western astrology emphasizes more on the psychological nature of the individual, but lacks reliability for predicting future cycles and events. Although Vedic astrology also defines a person’s psychological nature, it gives more focus to understanding when certain events are likely to take place. Moreover it exercises the free will of the people and works on the solutions to their problems. Remedial measures are prescribed to make peace with the planets. Since none of these is in scope of the Western system, the Western Astrologers after being exposed to our system, get so fascinated by its precision that most of them switch to Jyotish after certian point of time. 

Astrology: Science or Superstition?

Astrology existed since ancient times, but is it a science, or just pseudoscience?
Do you believe in astrology?  

Don't believe? I don't blame you. Perhaps your exposure to astrology is Sun Sign columns in your local newspaper. If the only doctors that I was familiar with diagnosed illness by measuring the size of a person's head, I would have a low opinion of medicine. But is it right to frame your opinion of something you have so little exposure to?

Actually, astrology is a superstition only till life is smooth sailing, on the contrary it’s definitely a force since we are all governed by the planets which manifest in all our achievements and otherwise.

It may be noted that in the 14th century a number of universities in Western Europe, among them Paris, Bologna and Florence, had chairs of astrology. In ancient times, great astrologers adorned the royal courts and the kings consulted them on all matters. We have instances where our sages have offered astounding predictions. And now with more awareness, astrology is regaining its significance. 

People use astrology in many different ways, from investing in the stock market, making business decisions, to analysing political situations and social movements. The applications of astrology are almost endless. There are people using astrology successfully in very concrete areas, such as investing and finance - that is certainly an area where you can pay dearly for making a mistake!

Astrology may not be completely called a science, as every time 2 x 2 does not come out as 4 and surely it is not a superstition because record has it that time and again it has proven its worth and changed the lives of people in a revolutionary way.

Cosmic forces are real. Our ability to sense them and to understand them is where the challenge lies. Now a days even doctors take the help of astrologers if their patient is not recovering from prolonged illness. Since the Moon can affect tides on Earth, this should be taken as scientific evidence that the positions of Planets have some influence on our existence. Even though space appears to hold great distances does not mean we are disconnected from it. If we are warned that we are prone to rash actions due to the influence of certain planets, then we can hold a check on our emotion and rash action and catastrophic results. If we know that position of a planet gives a favorable condition, then we can take advantage of it by proper action. 

Unfortunately, Astrology currently does not have the support and endorsement of universities and research journals, and there are very many tricky and difficult problems that one encounters in attempting to scientifically test astrological theories. But that does not mean it cannot be done. It has been done already to a small degree, and the development of good software tools and the dedication and interest of many talented people in the field of astrology is now giving a re-birth to astrology which is now proving to be one of the great technological wonders of the future.

In our Vedic scriptures like Ramayana, Mahabharata etc., one can find innumerable references to astrology in various forms. References to rising sign, Sun, Moon, Shadow planets Rahu and Ketu, nakshatras etc. can be easily found.

Here is an excellent Bible passage that uncannily describes the astrological influences on humanity and the suggestion that the universe operates on a cosmic clock:

"There is a time for everything, 
and a season for every activity under heaven: 
a time to be born and a time to die, 
a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
a time to kill and a time to heal, 
a time to tear down and a time to build, 
a time to weep and a time to laugh, 
a time to mourn and a time to dance, 
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 
a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 
a time to search and a time to give up, 
a time to keep and a time to throw away, 
a time to tear and a time to mend, 
a time to be silent and a time to speak, 
time to love and a time to hate, 
a time for war and a time for peace.”